Railfanning 9-10-2011

Hi, September 10 was Railroad Illustrated's Day in North America, the one date during the year when railfans are encouraged to spend all or part of the day photographing trains and then to submit 3 images to the magazine.  Friend Rudy Volin and I decided to begin our day at Harpers Ferry, WV.  I thought the Potomac River might be high enough there to provide some interesting photos.  It was high but not high enough.  The first train was westbound Q217.

Not too long after S400 went east.

After Q401 went west we decided to head for Shenandoah Junction, WV.

Railfans typically gather near the site of the former B&O station in Shenandoah Junction and we ran into friends Dave Davies, Alex Mayes and Teresa Renner, as well as a couple of other fans, while we were there. First up was NS #37Q at the north end of the passing siding that ends in Shenandoah Junction.

Then CSX sent 2 east bounds, U836 and

Q415,

followed almost immediately by Q261.

When we arrived at the Junction we learned that a Straits Brothers carnival train was expected.  It showed up at 1:10 PM.  We heard it coming so we moved into position to photograph it at a spot where the train would be more visible.  While we waited Amtrak's Capitol Limited went east about 2:30 late.  I would see it come through Rockville at 6:15 PM more that 6 1/2 hours late having got stuck behind disabled Q415 near Dickerson, MD and then having its crew outlaw in Gaithersburg, MD.

The carnival train, NS #048, was followed by #228.

At this point Rudy and I decided to head for Brunswick, MD thinking we could photograph a train passing WB tower there.  However, we heard Q373 leaving Brunswick so we decided to stop at Harpers Ferry to intercept it.

It was a good thing we did as nothing ran west until 6:30 PM. Also, crews have placed a huge platform directly in front of the stairway of WB so there was no shot there.  I hope you enjoyed the photos.